The very word ‘authority’ shares roots with ‘authorship’. The two concepts are indelibly intertwined, linked, symbiotic.

Perhaps then Google’s move toward authorship, identities, and eventually, author rank isn’t surprising. Google’s end game is to go beyond websites, and start indexing and ranking people – or at least their work.

Google Authorship, or rel=author, ties a Google+ account to a piece of content, centralizing a person’s work and allowing Google to associate all that content with a single author (or at least the content the author chooses to claim). In short, it allows Google to identify an author. There are numerous benefits to Google Authorship, but perhaps one of the the most important is the potential implementation of Author Rank.

Author Rank (patented under Agent Rank) would allow Google to rank certain identities (agents or authors) higher in relevant search results based upon algorithmically perceived authority. Google would have an entirely new signal for their algorithm – and a potentially strong signal, at that.

Cory Collins is a writer and beer enthusiast living in Boise, Idaho. He currently works as a Content Specialist for Page One Power, and doesn't always talk in the third person – but when he does, it’s great.

Editor’s Note: The opinions in this piece don’t necessarily reflect those of Page One Power as a company.

This isn’t a news piece. You can read about the Moz rebrand and get the news right from the source.

We’ve been talking about the change from SEOmoz to Moz all day at the office, so we figured we’d share our thoughts with you. This conversation between Cory Collins, my friend and colleague, and I was conducted via Google Docs. He sits in the cubicle right next to mine, so the hilarity is not lost on us. It’s just easier to put it down into words this way.

Opinion–There’s No Such Thing As Friendly Competition In SEO

Americans love competition. Competition is a part of our backbone. If you look at the Nielsen ratings, the Super Bowl is consistently the highest rated television program year after year. When the NFL Super Bowl isn’t on, most of the other top shows are no longer the kind of scripted shows that have reigned over the nightly programming since the advent of the tube. Instead, they are “reality” television programs, premised on finding the best karaoke singer, or the best backstabber/conniver living on an island.

Cory Collins is a writer and beer enthusiast living in Boise, Idaho. He currently works as a Content Specialist for Page One Power, and doesn't always talk in the third person – but when he does, it’s great.